Detention Enforcement Officer

Tommy Kwok Chin

United States Department of Justice - Immigration and Naturalization Service - Detention and Deportation — Washington, DC

Illness

End of Watch October 17, 1999

Age 40

Tour of Duty 11 yrs

The Vigil Panel 146 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 5

Incident

Detention Enforcement Officer Tommy Chin died after contracting Bete-hemolvtic streptococcus, Group A, also known as the flesh eating bacteria, while conducting detention operations of 151 illegal Chinese refugees on the island of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Officer Chin had served with the United States Department of Justice - Immigration and Naturalization Service for 11 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and child.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-FED-90C79667
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Detention Enforcement Officer Chin gave the United States Department of Justice 11 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detention Enforcement Officer Chin.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department United States Department of Justice - Immigration and Naturalization Service - Detention and Deportation

Location Washington, DC

Platform Identity usdjinsddfed.fed.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 17, 1999

Tour of Duty 11 yrs

Age 40

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Incident Location WA

Detention Enforcement Officer Tommy Kwok Chin is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In DC, 137 of 1,419 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.7% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.

At United States Department of Justice - Immigration and Naturalization Service - Detention and Deportation, 1 of 6 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 16.7% of this agency's fallen.

United States Department of Justice - Immigration and Naturalization Service - Detention and Deportation

of 6 officers

16.7% Illness

DC — Statewide

137

of 1,419 officers

9.7% Illness

Nationwide

2,974

of 32,508 officers

9.1% Illness